English 571:
Irish Drama and Revolutionary Politics

TH 12:30-1:45
Flanner 625

  • Description
  • Required Texts
  • Coursework and Policy Statement
  • Course Outline

    • This course will investigate the relationship between the drama produced by the Abbey Theater movement during the first decades of this century and the political struggle for Irish independence that was taking place at the same time. As part of this project, we will examine not only the plays but the responses they provoked when they were first performed, reading the texts of the plays alongside the reviews they generated and the debates that were taking place at the time in the nationalist press. We will be paying particular attention to the relationship between national and sexual politics, and how representations of gender--and audience responses to them--mediated it. We will also use our study of these plays and their historical, political, cultural and critical context to interrogate the development and definition of Irish studies itself as a discipline. Students have the option of producing either one seminar paper or two conference-length papers, and will also be responsible for at least two in-class presentations.

    Required Texts

    Vintage Book of Contemporary Irish Fiction. Ed. Dermot Bolger
    The Yeats Reader: A Portable Compendium of Poetry, Drama and Prose. Ed. Richard J. Finneran.
    Modern Irish Drama. (Norton anthology.) Ed. John Harrington.
    The Aran Islands. J. M. Synge.
    The Complete Plays. J. M. Synge.
    Plays Two. Sean O'Casey.

    Course packet available in 301 O'Shaughnessy.

    Coursework and Policy Statement

    Coursework

    Readings

    You are responsible for everything listed on the syllabus unless I specifically tell you otherwise. I will assume that I can trust you to do all the assigned reading on time. If I discover that this trust is misplaced, you will face my wrath.

    Papers

    My goal in designing the assignments is to make sure you finish the course with some writing you can put to professional use, either by delivering it at a conference or publishing it as an article. Therefore:

  • At midterm, everyone will turn in a 10-15 page conference paper.

    At the end of the semester you will either:

  • --turn in a second 10-15 page conference paper dealing with a different topic, or
  • --expand your first paper into a 30-page article

    I will ask you to submit abstracts for these papers in advance so that I can give you some feedback on your ideas and help you with any questions you might have about research or development. All assignments will be turned in at the beginning of class on the days that the syllabus says they are due. All work must be typed on a word processor.

    Presentations

    You will be responsible for at least one 15-20 minute oral presentation (how many depends on the size of the class). You will also be responsible for compiling a bibliography relating to the topic you have chosen and distributing it to the class. Your grade for each will be based on both the oral presentation and your bibliography.

    Attendance

    This class will be small, and your presence and participation are crucial to its success. Attendance is mandatory. If you miss ten minutes or more of a class, either at the beginning or at the end, that counts as an unexcused absence. The only excuses I accept for absence are major religious holidays, physical or mental illness, or serious personal trauma. I will allow you one unexcused absence free of charge; after that, your in-class work grade drops 20 points with each unexcused absence. It is your responsibility to keep track of your absences.

    Conferences

    I will always be available in my office during my office hours for conferences. If you can't make those hours you can always set up an appointment with me for another time.

    Grading

    Your final grade for the course breaks down as follows:

    Papers: 75%
    Presentations: 15%
    Attendance/class participation: 10%

    While in this classroom, you are expected to treat your fellow students with respect at all times. Failure to do so will significantly lower your in-class work grade.

    Course Outline

    This syllabus is subject to change. I will inform you of any changes in advance.

    Unit I:
    In Search Of A National Theatre: Before the Abbey

    Week One: Introduction

    Aug. 27

    Introduction--Irish drama before the Irish Revival

    Aug. 29

    The Countess Cathleen (Yeats, course packet 4-88)
    “Souls for Gold” (O'Donnell, course packet 89-94)
    Yeats Reader: 351-364 ( Magic, The Symbolism of Poetry)
    Norton: “Our Irish Theater,” “Literary Ideals in Ireland” (377-388)

    Week Two: The "Irish" Literary Theatre

    September 3

    The Heather Field (Edward Martyn, course packet 125-159)
    Course packet: 95-98

    September 5

    Course packet: 100-124 (from An Claidheamh Soluis)

    Week Three: In The Shadow Of Cathleen

    September 10

    Deirdre (George Russell a.k.a. AE, course packet)
    Cathleen ni Houlihan (Yeats, in Norton)
    Norton: “Lady Gregory, Author and Sometimes Co-Author...” (436-441)
    Yeats Reader: 345-351 (“What is Popular Poetry?”)
    Course Packet: 177-204 (from Shan Van Vocht and The United Irishman; Cullingford; Thuente)

    September 12

    In the Shadow of the Glen (Synge)
    Course packet: 205-222 (Holloway, Gonne, Butler, Yeats, Connolly, etc.)
    Handout: Petronius
    Yeats Reader: 369-371 (“The Reform of the Theatre”)

    Week Four: A Little Too Real

    September 17

    Riders to the Sea (Norton)
    The Aran Islands: Part I
    Course packet: 223-232 (Gregory, “The Theatre In The Making”)
    Norton: Skelton (447-450)

    September 19

    Guest speaker: Elizabeth Butler Cullingford
    Readings TBA

    Unit II
    Sex and Violence: The Abbey Playwrights and the Nationalist Response

    Week Five: Opening Night

    September 24

    On Baile's Strand (Yeats; in Norton)
    Norton: “An Introduction For My Plays” (406-408); Flannery (420-423)
    Presentation: Kate Hennessey

    September 26

    Spreading the News (Gregory; in Norton)
    Hyacinth Halvey (Gregory; course packet 233-245)
    Norton: Gregory, “Spreading the News” and “A Note on Spreading the News” (431-2)
    Course packet: 246-255 (Holloway, nic Shiubhlaigh)

    Week Six: Tectonic Shift

    October 1

    The Playboy of the Western World (Synge)
    Norton: Synge, “Preface to the Playboy of the Western World” (451-452)
    Course packet: 246-258 (Holloway, nic Shiubhlaigh, press on Playboy)
    Presentation: Cheman Roy

    October 3

    Abstract for Paper #1 Due.
    Norton: Yeats, “The Controversy Over the Playboy…” (460-2)
    Course packet: 260-266 (rest of the press on Playboy)

    Week Seven: Damage Control

    October 8

    The Rising of the Moon (Gregory, in Norton)
    Norton: Coxhead, “Lady Gregory: A Literary Portrait” (441-446)
    Course packet: 267-270 (Milligan, “The Green Upon the Cape;” Keegan, “The Rising Of the Moon”)
    Yeats Reader: 49 (“On Those That Hated...”); 372-380 (“First Principles”)
    Presentation: Joan Arbery

    October 10

    The Shewing-Up of Blanco Posnet (Shaw; course packet 271-312)

    Presentation: Heather Edwards

    Unit III
    Too Long a Sacrifice: Padraig Pearse and Sean O'Casey

    Week Eight: A Man And His Gun

    October 15

    Padraig Pearse in course packet, 313-347 (The Singer, “The Mother,” “Renunciation,” “Little Lad of the Tricks,” “Peace and the Gael,” “Wolfe Tone,” “O'Donovan Rossa”)

    October 17

    PAPER #1 DUE.
    Shadow of a Gunman (O'Casey, Plays 2)
    Course packet: 348-372 (The Volunteer, The Irish Worker)

    Fall Break

    Week Nine: A Terrible State O' Chassis

    October 29

    Juno and the Paycock (O'Casey, Norton)

    October 31

    Selections from An t-Oglach (handout)

    Week Ten: Rosie vs. the Republicans

    November 5

    The Plough and the Stars (O'Casey, Plays 2)
    Presentation: Jessica Dougherty-McMichael

    November 7

    Course packet: 373-394 (from An Phoblacht; O'Casey/Sheehy-Skeffington correspondence)

    Unit IV
    Misbirth of a Nation: O'Casey, Yeats, and the Free State

    Week Eleven: O'Casey In Exile

    November 12

    The Silver Tassie (O'Casey, Plays 2)
    Presentation: Brooke Cameron

    November 14

    Course packet: 395-417 (Tassie Controversy)

    Week Twelve: Danse Macabre

    November 19

    At the Hawk's Well (Yeats Reader); Yeats reader: 64-71 (from Michael Robartes and the Dancer), 313-335 (Memoirs), 394-403 ( A Vision).

    November 21

    The Herne's Egg (Yeats Reader)
    Yeats Reader: 129 ("The Statues"); 404-421 (Essays for Scribner)
    Course packet: 418-444 (Yeats and the Blueshirts, United Ireland, Stanfield)

    Week Thirteen: To Hell In A Handbasket

    November 26

    Abstract for paper #2 due.
    Purgatory (Yeats Reader)
    Torchiana (Norton 423-430)

    November 28

    Thanksgiving Break

    Week Fourteen: Last Words

    December 3

    Yeats Reader: 422-423 On the Boiler
    Course Packet: 445-end (the rest of On the Boiler)

    December 5

    The Death of Cuchulain. (Yeats Reader)

    Week Fifteen: Hail and Farewell

    December 10

    Wrap-up, TCEs

    SEMINAR PAPER DUE: by 5:00 p.m. Thursday, December 19 in Flanner 712

    Susan.C.Harris.90@nd.edu